The present disclosure relates to an electrical charging/discharging control apparatus, an electric-power management apparatus, an electric-power management method and an electric-power management system. To put it in detail, the present disclosure relates to an electrical charging/discharging control apparatus installed in a facility for accumulating electric power, an electric-power management apparatus, an electric-power management method adopted by the electric-power management apparatus as well as an electric-power management system employing the electrical charging/discharging control apparatus and the electric-power management apparatus.
At the present day, introduction of electric-power accumulation facilities in business enterprises and ordinary homes is making progress. The electric-power accumulation facility has an electric-power accumulation battery subjected to electrical charging operations and electrical discharging operations. The electric-power accumulation battery is capable of accumulating electric power generated by a natural-energy generator or electric power purchased from an electric-power company.
Electric power accumulated in an electric-power accumulation facility includes electric power to be consumed by the owner of the electric-power accumulation facility and extra electric power which is purchased by an electric-power company at the present day. In the future where the electric-power accumulation facility will probably become more popular, however, with progress of liberation of electric power, electric power will conceivably be sold and purchased in an electric-power transaction market and the number of facility owners participating in transactions of electric power as owners of electric-power accumulation facilities will also conceivably increase as well. If it is quite within the bounds of possibility that, by participating in the electric-power transaction market, an owner of an electric-power accumulation facility is capable of gaining a profit, the number of persons each making an attempt to introduce an electric-power accumulation facility for itself and participate in the electric-power transaction market will conceivably increase.
Thus, there has been proposed an electric-power accumulation system in which changes of the price of electric power are predicted in accordance with an algorithm. Then, if the present price of electric power is low, electric power is purchased from an electric-power transaction market and accumulated in an electric-power accumulation facility. If the present price of electric power is high, on the other hand, electric power accumulated in an electric-power accumulation facility is sold to the electric-power transaction market. In this way, a profit can be gained. For more information on the proposed electric-power accumulation system, the reader is advised to refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-233053 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1).